More Voices Against Tar Sands

I’m not the only one who’s up in arms about the increasing use of low-grade crude extracted at great ecological and energy costs from the Canadian tar sands. Today, Earthworks launched a new campaign targeting dirty energy, including tar sands crude.

I won’t repeat what I’ve saidbefore (suffice it to say that tar sands oil results in three times the carbon emissions as standard crude and significantly more particulate pollution). What’s new on the No Dirty Energy website is a map of U.S. refineries that have processed or are planning to process tar sands oil. In California, those include ConocoPhillips refineries in Rodeo and Los Angeles.

What’s more, according to the campaign, simply increasing the required fuel-efficiency of U.S. cars to 40 mpg (from the current 35) would obviate any need to import tar sands crude. You might think that the automakers can’t meet that standard—a tale of woe they’ve been peddling for years. But they already do, in Europe.